Be Careful What You Ask For
Posted: March 29th, 2008, 1:41 am
HEALING SHELTER MINISTRIES #123d Re-Written 29MAR08 http://groups.msn.com/AHealingShelter/welcome.msnw
No Wonder: Part Four—Be Careful What You Ask For
by dave c
Throughout the New Testament we are told to ask God for the desires of our heart and for the needs of our bodies, our minds, and our spirits. Likewise we are repeatedly assured that we are granted all that we ask within the name, within the will, and within the righteous holiness of God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. In Luke 11:9-13 Jesus tells us, "So I say to you: Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives; he who seeks finds; and to him who knocks, the door will be opened. "Which of you fathers, if your son asks for a fish, will give him a snake instead? Or if he asks for an egg, will give him a scorpion? If you then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!" (NIV).
When we come to Christ—when we ask Him to forgive us and as we begin the process of allowing Him to govern our lives—our eternal salvation is sealed by the Holy Spirit who comes to live within us (Ep 4:30; 1Co 6:19). Scripture tells us that with the Holy Spirit come the gifts of the Holy Spirit (Ro 12:6-8; 1Co 12:1-10/28-31), the fruit of the Holy Spirit (Ga 5:22&23), and the power of the Holy Spirit through the authority of Jesus Christ, Himself (Jn 16:7-15). If I am not practicing a spiritual gift, if others do not witness the fruit, and if there are no manifestations of Godly power and authority in my life—it could be because I am not asking the Father for the Holy Spirit as Jesus instructs us in Luke 11:13, or because I ask with wrong motives, or because I lack faith...OR, it may be that God is granting precisely that for which I do ask.
Matthew 18:18 "I tell you the truth, whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven. 19 "Again, I tell you that if two of you on earth agree about anything you ask for, it will be done for you by my Father in heaven. 20 For where two or three come together in my name, there am I with them" (NIV). If I believe that God no longer performs miraculous healings, and that tongues and prophecies ended 1,900 years ago—if I am teaching in the Sunday school class and from the pulpit that God does not give believers spiritual gifts (specifically, or generally) anymore, or infuse them with miraculous power—then God may be honoring my prayers (which are issued as statements I make from out of the confines of my faith) by His not demonstrating miracles, wonders, and signs within my life and within my fellowship. Jesus tells us, You may ask me for anything in my name, and I will do it (Jn 14:14; NIV). Could it be that the absence of the miraculous in our churches is simply a matter of Christ doing what we repeatedly ask in His name?
What is it, then, that we are missing in our failure to ask for all that the Bible says is available to us through the Holy Spirit—why are Godly miracles, wonders, and signs important? As discussed in Part Two of this series, Scripture shows us that miracles improve the conditions of our physical existence, wonders bring us rational assurance, and signs train and prepare us as spiritual beings for the eternal life to come. So, without miraculous spiritual power operating in our daily lives, we are missing at least a part of “the life abundant” (Jn 10:10) for which Jesus came to Earth. Additionally, however, we are not just responsible for ourselves. As brothers and sisters in the Lord, we are responsible to and for each other, and we are given the offices and the gifts of the Spirit for equipping and edifying the Church (1Co 12:7; Eph. 4:11-13). As the Bride we are also representatives of Christ in and to the World, for which we are given spiritual gifts in order to be made more effective (1Pe 2:9; 1Co 14:21-25). But more than these, it is by the power of, in, and through the Holy Spirit that we are able to know God and understand spiritually all that He has given us (please carefully, and prayerfully read all of First Corinthians Chapter Two).
Just as a married couple can live together without emotional, spiritual, and/or physical intimacy; as a part of the Bride of Christ I suppose we can live with Jesus without developing an intimate relationship with Him—but why would we want to? Is it because we regard Him as a lover who is far away in miles and time? Because it is easier to hold Him at a distance so that we can live our lives as we choose? Because we would rather exercise the power of authority granted Christian leadership than to earnestly seek the spiritual power He offers to all who believe? One thing is certain: If we are convinced in our hearts and profess with our mouths that God does not perform miracles, that He no longer gives the full range of spiritual gifts, and that He does not imbue His children with His divine nature and eternal power, then we will bear great witness to those convictions.
Paul tells us, I keep asking that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the glorious Father, may give you the Spirit of wisdom and revelation, so that you may know him better. I pray also that the eyes of your [understanding] may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which he has called you, the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints, and his incomparably great power (dunamis/miraculous power) for us who believe. That power is like the working of his mighty strength, which he exerted in Christ when he raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly realms (Ep 1:17-20, NIV). “May we come to understand the hope in Christ to which we are called, the riches of our glorious inheritance in the gathering of the saints, and the incomparable, miraculous power offered to each of us who believe. Amen.”
No Wonder: Part Four—Be Careful What You Ask For
by dave c
Throughout the New Testament we are told to ask God for the desires of our heart and for the needs of our bodies, our minds, and our spirits. Likewise we are repeatedly assured that we are granted all that we ask within the name, within the will, and within the righteous holiness of God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. In Luke 11:9-13 Jesus tells us, "So I say to you: Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives; he who seeks finds; and to him who knocks, the door will be opened. "Which of you fathers, if your son asks for a fish, will give him a snake instead? Or if he asks for an egg, will give him a scorpion? If you then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!" (NIV).
When we come to Christ—when we ask Him to forgive us and as we begin the process of allowing Him to govern our lives—our eternal salvation is sealed by the Holy Spirit who comes to live within us (Ep 4:30; 1Co 6:19). Scripture tells us that with the Holy Spirit come the gifts of the Holy Spirit (Ro 12:6-8; 1Co 12:1-10/28-31), the fruit of the Holy Spirit (Ga 5:22&23), and the power of the Holy Spirit through the authority of Jesus Christ, Himself (Jn 16:7-15). If I am not practicing a spiritual gift, if others do not witness the fruit, and if there are no manifestations of Godly power and authority in my life—it could be because I am not asking the Father for the Holy Spirit as Jesus instructs us in Luke 11:13, or because I ask with wrong motives, or because I lack faith...OR, it may be that God is granting precisely that for which I do ask.
Matthew 18:18 "I tell you the truth, whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven. 19 "Again, I tell you that if two of you on earth agree about anything you ask for, it will be done for you by my Father in heaven. 20 For where two or three come together in my name, there am I with them" (NIV). If I believe that God no longer performs miraculous healings, and that tongues and prophecies ended 1,900 years ago—if I am teaching in the Sunday school class and from the pulpit that God does not give believers spiritual gifts (specifically, or generally) anymore, or infuse them with miraculous power—then God may be honoring my prayers (which are issued as statements I make from out of the confines of my faith) by His not demonstrating miracles, wonders, and signs within my life and within my fellowship. Jesus tells us, You may ask me for anything in my name, and I will do it (Jn 14:14; NIV). Could it be that the absence of the miraculous in our churches is simply a matter of Christ doing what we repeatedly ask in His name?
What is it, then, that we are missing in our failure to ask for all that the Bible says is available to us through the Holy Spirit—why are Godly miracles, wonders, and signs important? As discussed in Part Two of this series, Scripture shows us that miracles improve the conditions of our physical existence, wonders bring us rational assurance, and signs train and prepare us as spiritual beings for the eternal life to come. So, without miraculous spiritual power operating in our daily lives, we are missing at least a part of “the life abundant” (Jn 10:10) for which Jesus came to Earth. Additionally, however, we are not just responsible for ourselves. As brothers and sisters in the Lord, we are responsible to and for each other, and we are given the offices and the gifts of the Spirit for equipping and edifying the Church (1Co 12:7; Eph. 4:11-13). As the Bride we are also representatives of Christ in and to the World, for which we are given spiritual gifts in order to be made more effective (1Pe 2:9; 1Co 14:21-25). But more than these, it is by the power of, in, and through the Holy Spirit that we are able to know God and understand spiritually all that He has given us (please carefully, and prayerfully read all of First Corinthians Chapter Two).
Just as a married couple can live together without emotional, spiritual, and/or physical intimacy; as a part of the Bride of Christ I suppose we can live with Jesus without developing an intimate relationship with Him—but why would we want to? Is it because we regard Him as a lover who is far away in miles and time? Because it is easier to hold Him at a distance so that we can live our lives as we choose? Because we would rather exercise the power of authority granted Christian leadership than to earnestly seek the spiritual power He offers to all who believe? One thing is certain: If we are convinced in our hearts and profess with our mouths that God does not perform miracles, that He no longer gives the full range of spiritual gifts, and that He does not imbue His children with His divine nature and eternal power, then we will bear great witness to those convictions.
Paul tells us, I keep asking that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the glorious Father, may give you the Spirit of wisdom and revelation, so that you may know him better. I pray also that the eyes of your [understanding] may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which he has called you, the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints, and his incomparably great power (dunamis/miraculous power) for us who believe. That power is like the working of his mighty strength, which he exerted in Christ when he raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly realms (Ep 1:17-20, NIV). “May we come to understand the hope in Christ to which we are called, the riches of our glorious inheritance in the gathering of the saints, and the incomparable, miraculous power offered to each of us who believe. Amen.”